The Diocese of Niagara took possession of St. Hilda’s rectory as part of the negotiated settlement between St. Hilda’s and the diocese. The settlement boiled down to the congregation of St. Hilda’s giving the diocese of Niagara the church building and rectory; in exchange the diocese would stop suing the congregation.
In the last few weeks, the diocese sold the rectory for $650,000, $50,000 over its minimum price.
The first part of Cantata BWV 186 Do not be confounded, O soul. For Advent 3.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRlWdHM-2h0?rel=0]
According to the clergy lady in the video below, the Metal Culture has a lot in common with Christianity. Who knew?
Using what people are familiar with to introduce them to Christ seems to me to be a good idea – after all, St. Paul did it.
I’m not sure that that is what is going on here, though; it could be just be a measure of the church’s desperation to lure people into its sanctuaries – and once they are there, not know what to do with them.
Is, as the event organiser Simon Cross says, the Incarnation really about having “a bit of a laugh for Christmas”?
From here:
The Very Heavy Christmas Carol Service was first held last year and is claimed by its organisers to be the only one in the UK.
As well as carols, the service on Saturday evening will include specially written “Punk Poetry” lessons.Event organiser Simon Cross said the service was a “a bit of a laugh for Christmas”.
Here is last year’s production:
The Virgin Birth stretches the imagination of many western Anglican clergy beyond the breaking point.
The problem has been solved by a homosexual Columbian couple who have concocted a nativity scene with two gay Josephs and no Virgin Mary.
From here:
A gay couple has sparked outrage for displaying a ‘homosexual nativity scene’ in their Colombian home.
Andrés Vásquez and Felipe Cárdenas have come under fire for their all-male manger – where the baby Jesus has two father Josephs and the Virgin Mary is nowhere to be seen.
The country’s Catholic Church has labelled the display, in the northern city of Cartagena, as ‘sacrilege’.
From here:
Rev. Nancy Talbot feels like one of the more blessed female clergy.
When the North Vancouver minister looks out on the pews on any given Sunday, she feels fortunate her small congregation is slowly growing and that at least men make up roughly three in 10 of those at worship.
The gender imbalance could be far worse. The minister at Mount Seymour United Church is painfully aware men have been quietly, but in huge numbers, streaming away from many of North America’s Christian churches.
“I don’t think many of us have answers to why it’s happening,” says Talbot, who has led Mount Seymour United for eight years while raising two boys in a same-sex relationship with her partner, Brenda.
Rev. Talbot remarks in the last paragraph that she has no idea why men are not coming to church. Nancy and Brenda have made it clear that men are redundant in their personal lives. Why would it be otherwise in the church?
At least homosexual men should feel at home in the United Church:
And, given the United Church began ordaining homosexuals in 1992, some of the denomination’s gay clergy expect that roughly half of the small cohort of remaining male ministers will be homosexual.
‘Till death do us part.
It is supposed to be: ‘Till death us do part, a contraction of: until death us do depart.
An older version of the final phrase is “and to obey, until death us do depart” where “depart” means “separate”. “Until death us do depart” had to be changed due to changes in the usage of “depart” in the Prayer Book of 1662. In the 1928 prayer book (not authorised) and in editions of the 1662 prayer book printed thereafter “and to obey” was retained (in the 1928 book an alternative version omitted this).
The current Anglican Journal editor, Kristin Jenkins – whom I met briefly in 2010 and rather liked in spite of our radically different perspectives – is abandoning the Anglican Journal to the tender mercies of Paul Feheley.
In the face of certain cuts for Anglican Journal staff, one can hardly blame her.
As the article below notes, the budget for the Journal will be more conservative; what is left unsaid is that the content will undoubtedly be less conservative – you may think that an impossibility, but with a herculean effort from the stragglers still employed by the paper, I am certain a way will be found.
From here:
Following the resignation of Editor Kristin Jenkins, the Anglican Journal will adopt an interim management structure and not hire a new editor until late 2013 at the earliest. Sam Carriere, director of Communications and Information Resources and Resources for Mission, shared this news with General Synod staff on Dec. 13.
Editor since 2009, Ms. Jenkins will leave the Anglican Journal on Jan. 7, 2013 to become director of advancement at Albert College in Belleville, Ont.
“It is my feeling, supported by advice I have sought and received, that I should not engage in a formal search and hiring process for an editor of the Anglican Journal until next year’s restructuring work is behind us, at the earliest,” said Mr. Carriere in an email to staff.
In November, the Council of General Synod passed a transitional budget for 2013 and agreed to establish a more conservative budget for 2014 in response to declining revenues. Throughout the next year, General Synod leadership will consider ways to restructure the national office, including the Anglican Journal.
It was first published on November 27, 2012 and ranks #20,842 in Amazon book sales. That is before the ACoC and TEC get wind of it and adopt it as their pew Bible, of course.
Take a look here to see what was expunged, massaged and tinkered with to discourage anti-LGBT interpretations.
Naturally, the Bible has its own Facebook page, adorned with this image:
From here:
Homosexuality in The Bible
Homosexuality was first mentioned in the Bible in 1946 in the Revised Standard Version. There is no mention of or reference to homosexuality in any Bible prior to this – only interpretations have been made. Anti-LGBT Bible interpretations commonly cite only eight verses in the Bible that they interpret to mean homosexuality is a sin; Eight verses in a book of thousands!The Queen James Bible seeks to resolve interpretive ambiguity in the Bible as it pertains to homosexuality: We edited those eight verses in a way that makes homophobic interpretations impossible.
Who is Queen James?
The King James Bible is the most popular Bible of all time, and arguably the most important English language document of all time. The brainchild and namesake of King James I, who wanted an English language Bible that all could own and read, it has been in print for over 400 years and has brought more people to Christ than any other Bible translation. Commonly known to biographers but often surprising to most Christians, King James I was a well-known bisexual. Though he did marry a woman, his many gay relationships were so well-known that amongst some of his friends and court, he was known as “Queen James.” It is in his great debt and honor that we name The Queen James Bible so.A Fabulous Bible
The QJB is a big, fabulous Bible. It is printed and bound in the United States on thick, high-quality paper in a beautiful, readable typeface. It is the perfect Bible for ceremony, study, sermon, gift-giving, or simply to put on display in the home or Church.You can’t choose your sexuality, but you can choose Jesus. Now you can choose a Bible, too.
h/t: MCJ
One of Fred Hiltz’s recurring nightmares is that Canterbury recognises ANCA and ANiC, making ACNA an official North American Anglican province with ANiC as one of its dioceses. In order to forestall this calamity, Hiltz has taken his “ongoing concern” to Justin Welby.
It’s worth noting that a contributing factor to the judge’s decision to award the ANiC church buildings to the Diocese of New Westminster was that they are held in trust for “Anglican worship”. By the judge’s reasoning, since the ACoC is the only recognised Anglican Church in Canada, Anglican worship and doctrine, no matter how perversely bizarre, is set by it and no-one else.
If ACNA is recognised by Canterbury, it would mean that the beloved nonsense emanating from Hiltz’s beloved church would no longer be the sole official measure of Canadian Anglicanism.
Welby, apparently, is “very appreciative” of ACoC contributions to the Anglican communion. Things like the pioneering work on suing Christians, ejecting them from their buildings, inhibiting world famous theologians such as J. I. Packer, filling the ranks of its clergy with partnered homosexuals and performing the Vagina Monologues in a cathedral.
There aren’t many Anglican Provinces that can make those claims.
From here:
The leader of the Anglican Church of Canada has emerged from his Dec. 6 meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect, Justin Welby, feeling “very optimistic about his leadership.”
Archbishop Fred Hitz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, noted Welby’s “extensive ministry of reconciliation” and told the Journal that, “I get is a sense that he wants to be personally pro-active to build relations.
[….]
During his meeting with Welby, Hiltz said he mentioned ongoing concern about efforts by the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) to be recognized by the Church of England. Composed of Anglicans who have left the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church in the U.S., ACNA describes itself as “an emerging Province in the global Anglican Communion.”
Hiltz said he requested that if bodies of the Church of England are to meet with representatives of ACNA, “in fairness, they should also meet with us to get a better picture.” Welby was “very appreciative” of the place of the Anglican Church of Canada in the Communion and the contributions it has been able to make, added Hiltz.